Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
- Per @NYMag, Paul Manafort took over the Trump campaign on April 16, just 72 hours before Trump mathematically eliminated his competition. pic.twitter.com/SsIUo589By
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
2) The timing was intentional: Manafort, hired in March, was slated to become the campaign's key player as soon as Trump became the nominee.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
3) On April 21, 48 hours after clinching, Trump announced the first major foreign policy address of his life. It was scheduled for April 27.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
4) The speech, arranged by Jared Kushner in mid-March, was to be hosted by the Center for the National Interest, a conservative think tank. pic.twitter.com/yXj3J7DpQJ
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
5) The Center is widely known to have "ties to the Russian regime of President Vladimir Putin," per Politico. www.politico.eu/article/donald-trumps-russia-connections-foreign-policy-presidential-campaign/ …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
6) The speech was slated to be at the National Press Club, an august venue with a long history of staging secure events with large crowds. pic.twitter.com/cuq5492nkO
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
7) Less than 24 hours before the speech, it was cancelled. The Trump campaign (i.e., Manafort) declared the venue was too small and unsafe.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
8) So Manafort moved the event to the Mayflower Hotel: a smaller, less secure site. The decision confirmed the campaign's excuses were lies. pic.twitter.com/EtgLxhMXYh
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
9) The two things the Mayflower had that the NPC didn't were (a) 581 private rooms for private meetings, and (b) restricted, VIP-only areas. pic.twitter.com/kt1rBExo0i
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
10) The latter was important because Manafort wanted Trump to hold an intimate, 24-person cocktail hour in the Mayflower's VIP Senate Room.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
11) Among the 24 at the event: Trump, CNI event coordinator Heilbrunn, Jeff Sessions, Kushner, Lewandowski, Manafort, and four ambassadors. pic.twitter.com/jVPRY2XZHv
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
12) Another VIP at the event was Iran-Contra figure Bud McFarlane, one of America's chief advocates for a bargain with Russia on oil access. pic.twitter.com/hj6TJhLujN
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
13) The four ambassadors were the only four ambassadors in the world (out of 195 total) that the Putin-linked CNI had invited to the event.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
14) The biggest oil deal in Russia's history occurred in December of 2016. It involved the coordination of entities from three countries.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
15) Individuals from those three countries—RUSSIA, ITALY, and SINGAPORE—negotiated the sale of 19.5% of Russia's state oil company, Rosneft. pic.twitter.com/WL28N2kZg3
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
16) The #Russiagate scandal involves claims Trump was given 0.5% of Rosneft and aid in getting elected in exchange for lifting US sanctions. pic.twitter.com/epnrPl9ngo
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
17) The Rosneft deal closed Dec. 5-7. During that time McFarlane visited Trump Tower. It's believed Russian ambassador/spy Kislyak did too. pic.twitter.com/DvUGL4W0V9
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
18) WSJ wrote in April 2016 that Trump met separately with the ambassadors at the Mayflower and was effusive. Quote: www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/07/trump_met_russian_ambassador_kislyak_during_campaign_in_april_2016.html …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
19) “Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. He warmly greeted Kislyak and 3 other ambassadors."
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
20) The ambassadors at the Mayflower: RUSSIA! ITALY! SINGAPORE! And the Philippines--which is routinely cited as a Rosneft expansion target. pic.twitter.com/lkziVxMM6l
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
21) So Trump warmly, privately chatted with the 3 Rosneft-deal nations at a cocktail hour right before his first big foreign-policy event.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
22) In his speech Trump called for a Russian detente: "We desire to live peacefully and in friendship with Russia...we are not bound... pic.twitter.com/LY1s6ZdE4k
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
23) to be adversaries. We should seek common ground based on shared interests...an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia... pic.twitter.com/I4eKvtqvpy
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
24) is possible..[I hope to] make a deal under my administration that’s great for America but also good for Russia." www.politico.com/trump-russia-ties-scandal-guide/timeline-of-events …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
25) Richard Burt, CNI and Russian Alfa Bank adviser, crafted the speech. He was also Putin's pipeline lobbyist. www.salon.com/2016/10/07/another-donald-trump-adviser-with-kremlin-connections-gop-lobbyist-for-russian-pipeline-crafted-trumps-major-foreign-policy-speech/ …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
26) The only Kislyak meeting Sessions never disclosed to Congress, even after accusations of perjury, was the meeting at the Mayflower. pic.twitter.com/D8mzXi2xNa
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
27) But per the organizer of the Mayflower Hotel event, Jacob Heilbrunn of the CNI, a third Sessions-Kislyak meeting definitely occurred.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
28) Heilbrunn on the VIP event: "At a reception in the Senate Room of the Mayflower, a number of politicians and Trump advisers, such as...
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
29) ... Senator Jeff Sessions and ambassadors [from Russia and the other nations] congregated before the event." www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/trump-foreign-policy-speech-why-i-hosted-it-213858 …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
30) The VIP event wasn't just a receiving line as Trump claimed. It was a "cocktail meet-and-greet"--a full event. www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-sergey-kislyak-mayflower_us_58c05639e4b0d1078ca37225 …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
31) That Sessions would feel the need to hide his contact with Kislyak at the Mayflower event after accusations of perjury raises red flags. pic.twitter.com/FiSyrw89SD
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
32) The White House saying it has “no recollection” of any of the VIPs at Trump's biggest-ever foreign policy event is also a red flag. pic.twitter.com/bTQsz5JJ2Z
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
33) When Kislyak was asked if he’d met Trump or members of his team during the campaign he replied, "What do you consider a campaign?"
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
34) Kislyak went on to fail to disclose his meeting with Trump at the Mayflower, citing only a meeting at the RNC. …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
35) We know Manafort and Kislyak would have known each other, as Manafort indirectly worked for Putin for years. www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/22/report_paul_manafort_had_plan_to_influence_american_politics_for_putin_in.html …
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
36) We know Manafort set up the Mayflower event and was available for meetings at it--as was Kushner, who later met secretly with Kislyak. pic.twitter.com/nOnWyPZB4x
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
37) Congress must investigate any Mayflower meetings between Sessions, Manafort, Kushner, Kislyak and the Italian/Singaporean ambassadors.
Seth Abramson ✔ @SethAbramson
38) We know the White House lied about Mayflower. We know Sessions has. We know Kislyak has. And we know the Rosneft players were present. pic.twitter.com/9BIKLipInj
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